


Cooking Up a Storm

by Nympha_Alba



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Cooking, First Christmas Together, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 21:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8862739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nympha_Alba/pseuds/Nympha_Alba
Summary: It's Arthur and Merlin's first Christmas together, and in a moment of madness they offer to cook Christmas dinner for family and friends…





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta, and to the mods for running this wonderful fest!

  
_Faithful friends who are dear to us_  
_Gather near to us once more_  


Grey light came seeping in around the curtains when Merlin woke up. Beside him Arthur was fast asleep still, on his side with both hands shoved under the pillow. He looked so young when he slept, so peaceful. The thought made Merlin smile. Awake, Arthur could be something of a tornado.

Merlin turned on his back, pulled the duvet up to his chin and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't believe it had been a year – or, well, he could. It felt like he'd met Arthur yesterday, but equally felt like they'd known each other forever.

Arthur was stirring beside Merlin now, reaching out for him without opening his eyes. "Mmm. You're here."

"Where else would I be?"

Arthur cracked one eye open. "C'mere then." 

Merlin let himself be pulled into a cuddle, but something must have shown on his face, because Arthur opened his eyes fully. "What is it? You look... pensive."

Merlin shook his head and kissed Arthur's shoulder. "No. Well, yes, but in a good way. I just realised it's nearly a year. You know, since we…"

Arthur's arms hardened around him. "I know. And it's been the best year of your life - admit it!"

It had, actually, but Arthur's ego didn't need inflating. 

"And yours, naturally."

"I think that calls for celebration."

"Did you have anything in mind…?"

"Yeah, actually…"

Arthur pulled Merlin close and showed him.

 

***

 

The first time Merlin had met Arthur had been a movie night at Gwen's, when Morgana had brought her brother along. "He needs to get out of his house!"

They had met many times over the years but always with friends, and never really talked to each other much. Arthur was undeniably gorgeous but not Merlin's type at all – too conventionally handsome, too much charm, too many sharp city suits. At least that's what Merlin had told himself.

A year ago, things had changed. At Gwen and Lance's Christmas party, Merlin had ended up in a corner with Arthur chatting for hours. When Arthur had made Merlin promise not to dance with anyone but him, the last of Merlin's defences had fallen. Nothing had happened that night, though. Not even a kiss.

In the weeks to follow, Merlin had found himself daydreaming about Arthur's blue eyes and how their shape changed when he laughed. That was a bad sign. Very bad. 

They had met again at Morgana's glitzy, sparkling New Year's party. 

With his lips to Merlin's ear, Arthur had murmured: "I can't stop thinking about you. Every single second since the Christmas party..."

Merlin had almost dropped his drink. At midnight, when everyone hugged and kissed and spilled champagne down each other's backs, Arthur and Merlin had started snogging and been unable to stop. Morgana had sighed and laughed, called a cab and shoved them out the door. Everyone had come out on the steps to cheer and wave as they climbed into the car, and the driver glared at them in the mirror. They hadn't left Arthur's bed for two days.

Three months later, Arthur asked Merlin to move in with him.

 

***

 

At breakfast, their eyes met over the rim of Arthur's coffee mug. Merlin blinked. When Arthur covered part of his face like this, it usually meant he was embarrassed about something.

"You'll be going home for Christmas," Arthur said behind the mug.

"Er. Yes?"

"And I'm going over to Dad's with Morgana on Christmas Day." Arthur took a sip of his coffee. "Dad will be there for half the dinner, then mutter some excuse and disappear." He set the mug down and looked at the brown liquid. "You know, my mum died just before Christmas. It was a long time ago, but this time of year is still hard for him."

A strange mix of empathy and anger welled up in Merlin. "Hard for _him_? What about you and Morgana? You're his children and you lost your mother. He should be there for you."

Arthur shrugged. "We're adults now."

"So is he." Merlin didn't dislike Uther, but he also didn't like him. Uther was too distant for either. He was pleasant, mostly, but distant as the stars, and as far as Merlin understood, he had been like that even when Arthur and Morgana were kids. It hurt Merlin to see them hurt. Both were good at hiding it, but Merlin knew them well enough to see it.

"Our Christmases are never very cheerful," Arthur continued, looking down at the table as if he saw something interesting there. "And it'll be even less fun this year, because I'll be missing you." He looked up and met Merlin's gaze with a wan smile.

Seeing Arthur with his defences down like this always took Merlin's breath away. It was so easy to think there was no chink in Arthur's armour, but he was only human.

Merlin began to babble. "You should have just _said_ \- sorry I didn't ask you to come to Wales - of course I'd love to spend Christmas with you! My parents would love it if you came with me."

The usual, energetic spark returned to Arthur's eyes. "Actually, I was thinking - call me sentimental, but I've always wanted a big Christmas with lots of people and lots of food, kind of like in the movies, you know? So - how about we ask your parents and your uncle Gaius to come here for Christmas, and invite everyone for Christmas dinner? My dad, Morgana and Gwaine, Lance and Gwen… There's room for everyone."

Merlin had never even thought of staying in London for Christmas but it would be great to spend it with Arthur, and it was true that they had room for everyone. A large kitchen, a huge dining table, a spacious living-room that would look fantastic with a Christmas tree in it… He wanted to jump up and down like a small boy.

"Ooh, let's do that! It'll be so much fun! We can get a tree and buy lots of tasteless decorations for it, and…" He saw Arthur's smile broaden at his enthusiasm and hated to put a damper on it. "My parents and Gaius will come of course, and Morgana, but what about the others? Christmas is next week - it's pretty short notice. I'm sure Gwaine's mum will be disappointed not to see him at Christmas, and Gwen has family, too."

"Let's invite everyone!" said Arthur with a grand gesture. "I mean, Tom and Elyan are friends of ours anyway. Let's call everyone and see if they're amenable to the idea!"

 

***

 

Merlin had been right. It _was_ fun, buying a tree and decorating it with sparkly things, placing candles and tealights everywhere, stocking up on firewood and generally making the house look pretty.

Two days before Christmas they stood in the middle of the living-room, admiring the tree. It looked gorgeous. As did the whole house.

"I've never been so grateful to have a cleaning lady before," Arthur said and slid an arm around Merlin's shoulders. "We'd never have managed this level of spotlessness on our own."

"You're a spoilt, rich brat," Merlin murmured. "You do know she has a name, don't you? The cleaning lady?"

Arthur only grinned. "I'm very glad _Alice_ has made the house look so nice. That leaves the food, then."

"The food?"

Arthur gave him a long-suffering look. "We invited people to Christmas _dinner_ , Merlin. We have some serious cooking to do."

Merlin squeaked - he hated to admit it, but it was a squeak. "We're not actually doing the cooking ourselves, are we?"

"Of course we are! I've told everyone we'll cook so we can't wriggle out of it now. What do people eat at Christmas? We've always had turkey, but I've kind of always wanted a ham. A bit more rustic and country-like. Maybe both?"

Merlin tried not to hyperventilate. "I thought you'd got a caterer. You always do! Arthur, we've invited…" He counted on his fingers. "... eleven people, so that's thirteen with us. Neither of us has any great cooking skills - any cooking skills at all, actually."

Arthur waved a dismissive hand. "It's only food. It's a ham. How hard can it be?"

Merlin swallowed another undignified squeak. "We'll need more than one to feed thirteen people! I hate it when there's not enough food at dinners."

Arthur grabbed Merlin and danced him around the room. "Then we'll make two, or however many we need! And lots of other stuff. Come on, Merlin, it'll be fun!"

Merlin took a breath and stopped, dizzy. "Okay. Well, my mum always makes a gorgeous ginger-glazed ham at Christmas - I'll ask her how to make it."

 

***

 

The table was covered with lists - shopping and to-do.

"So what else do we need?" Merlin pushed his fingers through his hair. "Did I write down ginger preserves for the ham?"

"You did."

"So, what else?"

"Brussels sprouts! We have to have Brussels sprouts. No one likes them and no one ever eats them, but they have to be there. They're the ease-your-conscience vegetable. Besides, they're cute. Like miniature cabbages. They make you feel like Hagrid."

" _I_ like them."

Arthur threw his head back and laughed. "You would."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing, Mr. Five-a-Day. Should we have salmon? We always have smoked salmon and champagne at Christmas."

Merlin rolled his eyes. " _You_ would." After a pause, he added: "That sounds really nice, actually."

"Smoked salmon it is, then. And bread."

It was Merlin's turn to laugh. "Lots of both! And cream cheese, so when we've failed spectacularly with everything else, people can at least have a sandwich."

"We won't fail," said Arthur with confidence.

 

***

 

"How do you cook Brussels sprouts?"

"No idea."

"How do you glaze a ham?"

"No idea."

"This is going great."

 

***  


 

"Yes, Arthur said you'll cook," said Morgana to Merlin on the phone. "Don't worry about Gwaine and me, we won't starve. We'll just bring pizza and sit back and watch disaster evolve."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

 

***

 

"Christmas cake?" Hunith's voice got so loud her son held the phone away from his ear. "You can't make Christmas cake _now_ \- you should have started a month ago!"

Merlin sat down. "A month? Are you serious?"

Hunith gave an exasperated sigh. "Honestly, Merlin! How can you not remember I always start the cake in November and feed it with brandy for weeks?"

"Oh," said Merlin lamely.

"Marks & Spencer have great Christmas cake."

"But we… Mum, it's cheating! We wanted to have homemade everything. Maybe we can buy a cake and ice it ourselves?"

There was a pause. "You, Arthur and icing… I wouldn't want to clean _that_ kitchen."

"Mum! We're not five."

Hunith's silence spoke volumes.

"Come on, Mum! Help me out here!"

"Off with you to M&S," she said.

 

***

 

"Mum says we should buy our Christmas cake," Merlin complained to Arthur later.

Arthur, who had begun to realise the amount of work it takes to make dinner for thirteen people - or twelve now that Gwaine's mother had suddenly decided to go to Portugal with a friend - only hesitated a moment. "Okay, fine. A flaw in our planning. Everything else will be homemade, though."

Merlin gave him a dubious look. "I'm going right now, or they'll be out of cake."

"Don't forget the whisky - we can't have Christmas cake without whisky!"

"And she veto-ed the turkey. Said she didn't want thirteen people with food poisoning." 

 

***

 

Arthur took a step back from the table. "Look at that. It's a beauty!"

The ham lay in its dish, pink and succulent with a diamond pattern carved into the fat, covered with ginger glaze and bejewelled with cloves. They had no idea how they'd done it, but done it was and it looked wonderful.

Arthur beamed. "So, twenty minutes in the oven and we're home."

"With the ham, yes. Then we only have a million other things to do, and it's almost evening and we only have…"

"Shhh." Arthur silenced Merlin with a kiss. "I'll put it in the oven now." He did, and came back and kissed Merlin again. "And in the meantime, I know something nice we can do…"

His left hand was already sneaking in under Merlin's jumper while his right slid down to Merlin's arse and squeezed.

"Mmm. Good idea." Merlin's eyes closed and his head fell back when Arthur nosed down his neck and licked at the sensitive spot above the collarbone.

 

***

 

A good while later they lay side by side on the ruffled bed, panting and sweaty, in the light from the Moravian star.

Arthur propped himself up on an elbow and smiled down at Merlin. "I like this kind of Christmas celebration. A lot."

"Me too," Merlin murmured, tracing a finger down Arthur's arm.

"I would…" Arthur began. A crease formed between his eyebrows. "Do you smell something burning?"

"Oh, god." Merlin shot up from the bed. "Arthur, the ham!"

They stood in the kitchen, naked, and stared at the sad, smoking, blackened thing that had once been their glorious Christmas ham.

"Well," said Merlin after a long, gloomy silence. "At least we have Christmas cake and whisky."

"Don't forget the smoked salmon."

"Or the Brussels sprouts," said Merlin gravely. "A feast indeed."

They looked at one another. After a moment, Arthur laughed. "I believe it's time to admit defeat. Let's start calling people and see what they can rustle up."

Merlin hid his face in his hands.

 

***

 

Lance only laughed when Merlin called and grovelled. "Alright, we'll raid the freezer."

Lance and Gwen were the kind of insanely well organized people who made huge casseroles and put them in plastic containers in the freezer. And thank goodness for that.

 

***

 

"Why am I not surprised?" Morgana said. "Good thing we planned to bring pizza."

 

***

 

It was Christmas morning, and so far everything had been perfect. The tree glittered with lights, the presents had been opened and they were lounging in their pyjamas by the fire in the woodburning stove. Arthur had managed to make them hot chocolate without mishap.

"I have a good feeling about today," he said. "I think it will be - "

But he never got to say what he thought it would be, because Merlin interrupted him rudely by running up to the window like an eager child. "Arthur, look! It's snowing."

Arthur came up and put an arm around Merlin's shoulders. "Wow, snow in London at Christmas. What are the odds?"

Merlin turned his head and smiled. "It's a sign. It will be a perfect day."

 

***  


 

At mid-day people began to arrive, laden with bowls and dishes, bottles and bags. The house was ablaze with lights, warm with candles and the fire in the woodburning stove. They'd had the windows open for hours and had finally got rid of the stench of burnt ham.

It seemed that Balinor and Hunith had a sixth sense, because they handed over two gigantic, glazed hams before pulling Merlin and Arthur into bear hugs. Lance, Gwen, Tom and Elyan arrived at the same time, brushing snow from their hair and shoulders and stomping it from their boots. The sparkle of Morgana's dress rivalled that of the Christmas tree and even Uther had a smile on his face.

When they were seated around the table, Arthur stood and thanked everyone for coming to "this Christmas dinner, homemade by everyone but Merlin and myself". This was followed by applause and cheering. Gaius was given the honorary task of carving the ham.

Uther went around the table filling wine glasses, but when he came to Morgana, she placed a hand over her glass. "No thanks, Dad."

She looked up at him and smiled, and Uther stopped with the wine bottle frozen in mid-air. The room went silent and someone dropped their fork on their plate with a shrill noise.

"Morgana," said her father slowly, "are you telling me you're..."?"

She looked at Gwaine and smiled. A faint blush tinged her cheeks pink. "Yes, Dad," she said. "I am. I'm pregnant."

The eruption of noise that followed her announcement was deafening, and Uther had tears in his eyes when he leaned down and kissed Morgana on the cheek. Arthur shouted his congratulations across the table and popped a bottle of champagne. "Sorry you can't have any of this, here, have some sparkling water, but the rest of us can have some!"

Merlin's face ached from smiling. It was so good to be here, so good to see Arthur's face blossom with the warmth of wine and candles and love, good to see all these people happy. Balinor was looking at Hunith as if she was the most precious thing in the world - but then he always looked at her that way. Gwaine put his arm around Morgana and kissed her hair, and Merlin was fairly sure Gwen and Lance were holding hands underneath the table. Elyan and Tom were howling with laughter at some joke no-one else understood, and Arthur was talking to Uther, who looked so much nicer when he smiled and showed no signs of wanting to disappear from the party.

 _It's perfect_ , Merlin thought. _This is exactly the Christmas Arthur wanted. The Christmas I wanted, too._

Maybe they had just created a tradition, Arthur and he. Merlin could see this dinner repeated year after year, with them all getting older, more people added to the mix, children running around tearing the house down… 

"Hey," Arthur's voice said in Merlin's ear. "You're smiling to yourself."

Merlin turned to face him. His eyes were so blue. "Merry Christmas, Arthur."

The look on Arthur's face made Merlin warm to the core. The kiss that followed was slow and soft, and the noise around them seemed to come from far away. 

"Merry Christmas, Merlin." And then, under his breath: "I love you."

 

***

 

"Thanks for a marvellous Christmas dinner," Hunith said to her son as they were tidying up the kitchen. "Not that you cooked much of it! But thanks for inviting us. It's been such a lovely day." 

It had. Merlin was so tired he was reeling, but he couldn't stop smiling. It had been the best Christmas ever. 

"Amazing, though," he said as an afterthought, "that people should have so much food in store! Our own fridge is usually empty except for milk and Marmite."

Hunith smiled at her son as if she felt a little sorry for him, and stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek.

"Darling boy," she said. "Don't be so naive. We organised this as soon as you invited us. We all know you two can't cook."

~***~

_Through the years we all will be together_  
_If the Fates allow_  
_Hang a shining star upon the highest bough_  
_And have yourself a merry little Christmas now_

  



End file.
